


triangles are confusing

by stqrryniqhts



Series: Iron Son™ [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Harley Keener & Peter Parker Friendship, Harley Keener & Peter Parker are Siblings, Hurt Peter Parker, Jealous Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 06:53:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19223905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stqrryniqhts/pseuds/stqrryniqhts
Summary: "No, no, no, no, no, you can't tell Harley, ok? Promise me you won't tell him, please." Peter almost chokes on his words as they tumble so fast out of his mouth, his mind is hardly processing what his own mouth is saying. He never wants Harley to find out what is running through his mind right now. If he ever did, well, their whole friendship and brotherhood might just go up in flames.





	triangles are confusing

**Author's Note:**

> get ready for some jealous! peter parker and some soft harley keener

Peter storms into Tony's lab, throwing his backpack onto the hard floor. He runs his fingers through his curls, tugging at his hair in frustration. Peter takes a few steps forward, turning around and taking a few steps back, pacing in the middle of the room in a frantic state.

Tony's eyes follow the boy, trying to think of what to say. He has never seen Peter this flustered and frantic before, so it has be something serious. Maybe something happened at school? It could have something to do with Harley, but the two seemed to be best friends. They even considered each other brothers ever since Harley enrolled at Midtown and started living with Tony. So what Peter was going crazy over, Tony had no clue.

"Pete, calm down, you're going to give us both heart attacks." Tony finally says, exasperated while standing up to order Dum-E to take care of things. He walks over to Peter, wanting to take all of this negative energy away from him.

"Tony, it's Harley." Peter's eyes glisten with tears and Tony's heart starts to break into two. He hates it when Pete cries, and Harley being the cause of it? That's even worse.

"Hey, hey, don't cry, ok?" Tony lifts the boy's head to study his face. "Why don't you try telling me what happened? Then maybe I can talk to Harley about it." Peter's face becomes frantic once again, his eyes wide with fear. He almost stumbles back, a single tear dropping to the ground.

"No, no, no, no, no, you can't tell Harley, ok? Promise me you won't tell him, _please_." Peter almost chokes on his words as they tumble so fast out of his mouth, his mind is hardly processing what his own mouth is saying. He never wants Harley to find out what is running through his mind right now. If he ever did, well, their whole friendship and brotherhood might just go up in flames.

He gulps as Tony sits them both down, Peter finding a comfortable spot to lie his head, leaning on his dad's chest and wrapping his arms around him. Tears tumble freely down his cheeks as he thinks about what Harley had said on the way home from Liz's special practice today for Nationals, which is only a couple weeks from now. Peter doesn't think he can ever erase Harley's words that are now burned on the side of his his brain like a tattoo.

"There's this girl that goes to our school." Peter starts, his face is slowly heating up, despite not even mentioning her name yet. "Her name is Liz and, well, she- she's perfect. I've had a crush on her for months." Peter pauses, a small smile forming through the tears. "It's more than a crush though. I'm pretty sure I've fallen in love with her."

Peter almost whispers it, because now that he has said it out loud, it just has made is so much more real. He tries to elaborate on his explanation. "We hang out at lunch and in the halls more often and- well, I don't know. She's everything to me." Peter bites down on his lip and thinks again. Suddenly Liz's name now has a bitter taste in his mouth, and he secretly wants to forbid himself from ever speaking it again.

Tony picks up on the sad tone of voice that Peter is speaking with. He loves this girl, and young love like he is describing is so hard to come by anymore. Tony just hopes that he doesn't lose her, and maybe the two of them can figure out a way to brainstorm ideas on how to ask her to homecoming. Maybe that will make Peter cheer up a little bit more. Tony can tell how pink Peter's cheeks get when he says her name, or even the wistful tone of voice instead of the sad one he's noticing here, that Liz seems to be the root of Pete's happiness.

Then Tony remembers that somehow Harley is mixed in with all of this, but how could that be? Peter has the girl of his dreams, all he has to do is-

 _Wait_.

A glimpse of what might of happened dawns on Tony and he wants to push the thought away. Peter would be destroyed if that ever happened, he would be absolutely _devastated_.

But as Tony holds in his arms the boy who is shaking with cries, the idea is not far from possible.

"Pete, why did you say it had something to do with Harley?" Tony asks, praying to god that it isn't what he thinks. Poor Peter wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Harley has a really big crush on her too." Peter buries his face into Tony even further, his heart feeling as if its being squeezed as tight as it can go, as if it's about to burst, and there's nothing he can do to stop it. Peter chooses to keep speaking, even if it does hurt to breathe. "Of course I can't just let him have her, but I have to. He's my best friend. I- I want him to be happy." Peter whimpers more and Tony shuts his eyes, holding the kid tighter and resting his chin on his soft curls.

"It'll be ok, Peter. I promise." But was that a promise that Tony could keep?

-

"Dude, did you just see that? She asked us to go to her party this weekend! This is huge!" Harley practically fangirls next to Peter in the Midtown school hallway, wrapping an arm around him. Harley has been working up the courage to ask Liz to go to homecoming with him all week, and he thinks this weekend at the party will be great. Peter will be there to record it and everything. He's even planning to ask her out on a date right after that, since homecoming isn't for a few weeks yet. Harley couldn't be any happier, but that doesn't seem to be the same for Pete.

Peter has been the best supportive best friend he could ever be these past few weeks. But that facade is starting to fade, and Peter's secret love for Liz is continuing to eat him up inside. Harley has been noticing his attitude a little more lately, but pays no attention to it because he is so blinded by this beautiful girl's light right in front of him.

Harley thinks Liz is amazing. Her voice is so calming and soothing to listen to, that every time she says his name thinks that it was made for her and only her to say. The other day when they did team building exercises, Liz was his partner. She had grabbed a hold of his hand for one of the activities, and an electric shock went all the way through him, and he blushed as red as a tomato. He thinks he might just be falling in love.

Peter heads to their lockers, since Tony made arrangements with the school board for them to be next to each other throughout the whole year. He thought the idea was great at first, but now it's getting to be a little much. I mean, as much as he _loves_ his non-biological brother, he can be annoying sometimes.

"So, are you coming to Stark's after school?" Harley asks hopefully, though he may already know the answer.

"You bet, Keener." Peter says through gritted teeth. He slams his locker shut so hard that a loud bang reverberates throughout the entire hall, and a hinge comes loose on Pete's locker door. He hangs his head and takes a deep breath, and then Peter just walks away ignoring all the stares, Harley trailing after him. The older boy goes to touch Peter's shoulder, but his spider sense picks up on it first, also sensing Harley's confusion.

Peter spins around, fuming with anger for what? He doesn't even know himself. Maybe for the fact that his best friend is in love with the same girl he has been chasing for months, and maybe even before that? And Harley waltzed in here when? Weeks ago? And now he is suddenly in love with this girl? No. Peter has known Liz since middle school, they went to the same daycare when they were in diapers. How could Harley Keener possibly be in love with Liz Allen? Peter just can't seem to wrap himself around it, but the caring side of him will support Harley, even if it is ripping him apart inside.

"I'm just stressed, ok?" Peter lets out a breath, apologizing to Harley for being so harsh. "I'm just am itching to get out of here." Peter humphs, sitting down into a cold empty desk in the next classroom.

Sometimes Peter seems to forgets that the jittery sensation he gets is really his spider sense telling him to do things, because he really is half spider after all. All he wants to do is climb on the ceilings, make some webs, and swing around his little part of New York.

His attention goes back to the boy next to him, and Harley seems to be his cocky self again, being a smart alex to all the kids around him with his last test, now that Liz is gone.

Peter ignores it and draws some pictures of webs and eight legged spiders throughout the whole class, not really paying attention because he knows he will ace the test anyways. He also knows that he shouldn't be so careless, and MJ would smack him for it if she were here. Peter begrudgingly answers a few questions in honor of well, _MJ_ , and practically jumps out of his chair when the bell rings. _Heightened_ _senses_ , _right_. He reminds himself.

"Hey, Keener, I'm gonna swing around for a bit before I go to the compound, and maybe stop by to see May." Peter pats Harley on the back as he heads out and Harley just nods, stuffing books into his bag.

-

"Mr. Stark! It's Peter, he's hurtin' real bad." Harley frantically says, the older boy's southern accent seems to come out when he's mad or afraid. Carrying the wounded boy into the Compound, he watches as Tony rushes over to examine what has happened, barking orders at FRIDAY.

"I'm fine, guys... really." Peter says, exasperated. He almost laughs hysterically, noticing that he's slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. "The guys didn't cut me up too bad, that high tech stuff darn sure is fancy." Peter tries to copy Harley's southern voice while he's setting him down.

"Oh, shut up, Parker. You're practically delirious and it's obvious you've lost a lot of blood, so sit your ass down and get examined." Harley laughs a little, but is still really concerned for the younger boy.

"You wouldn't treat Liz this way." Peter pouts while pulling a lip, as Tony just shakes his head with a small smile. Tony cleans and wraps the kid's wounds, estimating that they'll be healed by the end of tomorrow. It wasn't as bad as they thought, and for that they were very relieved. But Tony was still confused on how Peter is this loopy, he didn't lose so much blood as to make him like this. _Time_ _for_ _interrogation_.

"Peter..." Tony starts, seeing the confused look on Harley's face too. Harley is a smart kid, and so they both know that something is off.

"Peter, did you-" The man sighs before asking the question that seems to be the only answer. "Are you high?" Tony asks, running his hand over his own face while closing his eyes and crossing his arms, praying to god that this isn't the answer. Peter just smiles innocently, slightly nodding, looking from Tony to Harley and back again.

"Maybe," Peter giggles, and he knows he is so dead when he crashes from this high. His smile suddenly fades, remembering that he only did it because of someone. Anger surfaces once again in Peter's mind, crushing all hopes that this stuff would actually make him forget the real reason he did it.

"It's Harley's fault!" Peter points at Harley like a five year old, and Harley takes a step back, not looking to get into any trouble with Tony, knowing he had the authority to ground him for months.

"I didn't do anything!" Harley holds up his hands in defeat, seriously confused on why Peter would accuse him for getting himself high. Harley thought they were friends, so even if it was his fault, Peter would never be so quick to point him out for the cause of it.

Something dawns on Tony, a memory from a few weeks back. Peter was crying and saying something about how both of the boys were in love with the same girl. Maybe Peter was getting so sick of it, so he was willing to get himself high just to forget? Tony cringes at the thought of it. Peter used to be so against drugs and alcohol, but now he saw it as something close to an escape, and Tony hated it.

He analyzes the conversation that is playing out, and then Tony suddenly goes tense and tries to abort whatever is about to happen. Peter might say something about Liz, and that would be a disaster. Sure, Tony wants the boys to figure things out eventually, but it would be better if Peter was actually sober and knew what he was saying.

Peter stands up, practically staggering over to Harley. He sizes him up, getting face to face, not even flinching. "You can have her, Keener. Ya know, she was never really mine in the first place. So congratulations, Harley!" Peter backs up with his hands in the air. "You've stolen all that was once mine. You've got Tony, you've got this fancy place, and now you've got Liz, too." Peter gives a hollow laugh and walks away, stumbling a few times.

Tony's gaze goes back to Harley and pure shock is written all over his face. "Hey, I'm sure he didn't mean it-"

Anger shoots across Harley's face as if someone has slapped him. "Did you know about this?" Harley's voice rises. "Did you know that he was secretly planning to take her from me all this time? Who does he think he is?"

"Harley, I only kept it a secret so you could work it out yourselves. I knew it would go up in flames just like it is now." Tony says almost sternly, watching as the kid's eyes start to glisten. Harley shakes his head, his brown curls bouncing onto his forehead.

"He should've told me- I didn't want him to get hurt because of it. If I would've known..." Harley covers his mouth, studying his red converse. "What if something serious had happened today, dad? He could've gotten badly hurt, maybe even-" Harley lets the tears fall and walks over to Tony.

Tony wraps his arms around his son, hot tears falling onto from the boy on to his shoulder. "He hates me." Harley chokes out, crying even harder. Harley could've had _anything_ thrown at him in his life. He could've been hit with a bullet for all he knows, but nothing would compare to the pain of knowing that Peter Parker hates him.

-

Harley jumps when he hears a knock at his door. It's been a few days since their fight, and Peter has completely closed himself off from their friend group. Harley always tries to talk to him, even going as far as watching Star Trek with Ned some nights just to start a conversation. But no matter what he does, Peter won't say anything to him.

Harley gets up from his bed, as he was just sulking about the whole situation. He heads over to the door, and FRIDAY won't tell him who it is. He sighs dramatically at the AI system and takes a deep breath. He opens the door and peers around the wood, looking Peter up and down in surprise.

"Hey, Parker, what's up?" Harley stuffs one hand into his pocket while attempting a smile, still holding on to the door for support.

"We need to talk, ok?" Peter gets straight to the point. "I know you don't really like "emotional" conversations, but your emotionless ego can take a break for once." Pete makes the air quotes and everything, attempting at a smile, and then slips past Harley into his room that surprisingly smells like lavender. It smells heavenly to Peter whose senses that are dialed to eleven.

"So did you come here to get a whiff of my room, or did you come for something else?" Harley sneaks a sly smile and Peter just shoves his arm slightly as they sit down. The awkwardness settles but is soon replaced by sadness in the few seconds of silence.

"I just- I wanted to say sorry. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. Liz is just a girl and if she doesn't like me that's ok, I realize that now." Peter takes a deep breath, trying to avoid Harley's gaze for the time being. "After everything..." Peter taps his foot in frustration to find the right words. Then it hits him.

"I just can't lose you too, ok?" Peter whispers broken heartedly, turning back to Harley.

Harley stands up and gives Peter a hug.

You see, there are two types of hugs in this world. You have the Harley Keener kind of hug, the one where it's short and sweet, and nothing very soothing about it, it's more like a show of appreciation. Then you have the Peter Parker hugs. Peter Parker hugs are the kind of hugs where you stand there and pour everything you have into it. Nothing else matters except for the one person in your arms, platonic or romantic, and suddenly, everything seems to be ok and falling into place again.

Harley likes giving Peter Parker hugs once in a while, even if his brother does accuse him of having a heart for weeks on end after it.

**Author's Note:**

> lolol the next fic will be longer and more fluffy i swear


End file.
